Tony Herrman/Tribune
Mike Florek of Hastings has had a lot of success in long-distance road
races. Florek qualified to run in the Boston Marathon this year.

Running in his second Boston Marathon on Monday, Mike Florek said the atmosphere was quite a bit different than the first time he ran the iconic race two years ago.

“There was a huge crowd and the weather was good,” he said by phone just minutes after crossing the finish line. “The crowd on the side was all chanting ‘Boston Strong’ and ‘B Strong” and had all kinds of yellow and blue all over the place. The crowd was huge, and the crowd was loud.”

The crowd assembled to watch the 118th Boston Marathon was estimated Monday at around 1 million people, about double the typical size.

“It certainly was bigger and deeper, and they were definitely louder,” Florek said.